THE BASICS:
- Score: Flagler 8, Assumption 6
- Records: Flagler (11-8, 5-4 Peach Belt), Assumption (6-2, 0-0 NE10)
- Location: St. Augustine, Fla. (Drysdale Field)
- The Lead: The Assumption Greyhounds led for most of Tuesday against the Flagler Saints, but pitching woes led to a five-run seventh inning by the hosts and an 8-6 loss for the Hounds on Tuesday night in Florida.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Hounds unraveled in the bottom of the seventh, allowing five runs to score on two hits and three walks to give up their 6-3 lead. Relief pitcher Mike Keinz (North Branford, Conn. / Notre Dame) began the inning and allowed back-to-back walks before Kyle Autilio (Saugus, Mass. / Saugus High School) relieved him. The first batter Autilio faced, Frankie Martello, reached on a bunt-single to load the bases, which led to an RBI-walk by pinch hitter Jason Moore and a bases clearing double by Justin Neo to give the Saints a 7-6 lead. Elliott Schubert scored Neo from third on a sacrifice fly that gave Flagler an 8-6 advantage.
-Ethan Jones came in to pitch the final two innings for Flagler and retired the side each time, striking out three. He also forced Dillon Koster (Woburn, Mass. / Woburn / Marist College) to ground into a double play on a 2-2 count in the top of the ninth inning.
-Assumption led for most of the game however. Joe Michael (Johnston, R.I. / Johnston Senior / CCRI) gave the Hounds an initial 4-1 lead in the fourth inning when he hit a three-run homer over the wall in left for his first on the year. Flagler closed the Hounds' lead to one at 4-3 in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI-single by Zach Heming. Schubert, who previously singled to load the bases, eventually scored on a wild pitch.
-The Hounds added two in the top of the fifth to move on top 6-3. With the bases loaded, Michael walked on a full count to stretch his team's lead to two. Alex Richardson (Rehoboth, Mass. / Bishop Feehan) then produced an RBI-grounder to give Assumption a 6-3 lead. Richardson previously scored on an RBI-grounder by Koster to give the Hounds a 1-0 lead in the third before Flagler tied the game up in the bottom half of that inning.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- In his first start of the year, Michael led the Hounds at the plate, going 1-for-3 with four RBIs that included his three-run home run and one walk. Freshman Connor Wironen (Leominster, Mass. / Saint Bernard's) produced two runs for the Hounds, while Jared Brescia (Brentwood, N.H. / Exeter) went 2-for-4 at the top of an Assumption lineup that had only seven hits in all.
-Wironen's two runs give him five in his last two games and eight so far in six games played. As a freshman catcher, Wironen is hitting to a slash line of .400/.526/.600 with four walks, two RBIs and a home run.
-Autilio ended up with the loss, giving up three runs on two hits and one walk. Starter Brendan Desautels (Holden, Mass. / Holy Name Central Catholic) left with the lead through four innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four. Keinz pitched two innings in relief and struck out three.
-A day after committing seven errors in the field, the Hounds faired much better against Flagler by not committing any errors while also using a throw from Richardson in center field to gun down the runner at home in the fourth inning. Assumption also created a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the first.
UP NEXT:
-The Hounds will travel to Rollins on Thursday, March 7, for a 4 p.m. start.
STAY CONNECTED:
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